Alva: Difference between revisions
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From the 13th century onward, there would regularly be Alvan raids in central Yasteria as Alvan tribes - and Alvan states in some cases - competed for influence. While various states claimed to be the legitimate heir to the Alvan Empire, none would ever re-conquer all of the territories held by Tugri Khan. Historians use the term "Alvan Khanate" to refer to the state that existed where Alva exists today, which is the homeland of the Alvan tribes and was consistently the most economically dominant of the Alvan states. By the 17th century, all the former areas of the Alvan Empire would be under the control of non-Alvan regimes with the exception of the Alvan Khanate.
===Collapse and Decline===
As the world outside began to modernize, Alva began to see tension again build between the east and the west. The city of Urgabom had existed as a sedentary settlement for 400 years by the mid 17th century and was a major center for trade and commerce in the region. As essentially the only permanent settlement in the country, it was also the largest settlement and home to most of the political elite. The period in Alva after the collapse of the Alvan Empire is known as the Eastern Dynasty due to this cultural dominance by Urgabom. Western tribes began to resent the increasingly cosmopolitan east, believing they had shunned ancient tradition. In 1674, a conflict known as the Carriage Wars broke out, as angry western tribesmen attacked Urgabom over the popularity of horse-drawn carriages, which they saw as disrespectful and contemptible towards the horses. The Carriage Wars would eventually encompass the entire country, and within 20 years, the relative unity in Alva that had been in place since the fifth century collapsed. The government of the country dissolved, and from the late
While Urgabom remained relatively wealthy and cosmopolitan, the other areas of the country were relatively impoverished, and many continued to live in the traditional nomadic manner into the 20th century, especially in the far north and east of the country. However, in the 19th century, significant oil deposits were discovered in Alva, as well as mineral deposits of various kinds. As larger surrounding powers began to make moves toward taking the resources, the various tribes began to band together to defend themselves. A loosely organized state called the Alvan Confederation, with a capital nominally in Urgabom, was founded in 1850, the first united Alvan state in three hundred years. While it was successful in defending Alvan resources and coordinating resource extraction and foreign investment, the Confederation was plagued by instability and internal power struggles. The functional center of power moved between areas as different chiefs gained and lost sway, and corruption was common as foreign money began flowing into areas that had not typically seen it, such as the rural west.
===Modern Era===
[[File:Chinggis Square.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The Great Khural complex in Alvakot.]]
The governmental framework of the Alvan Confederation lasted for over a hundred years, and gradually, modernization began to spread through the country, including electrification, railroads, highways, and technologies such as the telegraph and later the telephone. However, the internal power struggles only grew in intensity as time went on. In 1974, the period known as the Great Frustration began, as armed conflicts arose across the country in resistance to the national government. Areas in the far north and far east seceded first, declaring themselves independent. The national government, believing swift and strong action would bring a quick end to the resistance, reacted with significant violence, causing nearly 10,000 fatalities and committing some actions that were decried as war crimes, including - in some cases - the rape and torture of captured rebels and civilians. While this technically ended the claims of secession, violence continued across the country for nearly two decades as tribes all over resisted control from Urgabom. Bombings were common in Urgabom and other larger cities, and in several cases, some tribes would set the oil wells of other tribes aflame.
While originally the conflict stemmed from complaints that some regions were better favored by the Urgabom government than others, as the conflict went on, it began to devolve as criminality of all kinds increased. Violence within members of the same tribe increased as anarchic elements or organized crime syndicates took advantage of the situation. At the peak of the violence between 1986 and 1990, some 400,000 people were killed in various crimes and terrorist acts. As the situation worsened, the local tribal governments began to seek peace with each other so they could focus on their internal situations. In 1992, a cease fire and peace settlement were signed in Urgabom, which ended the Alvan Confederation and established the Great Khanate of Alva in its place. It was agreed that a new capital city called Alvakot would be established in the center of the country, and that guarantees would be put in place so that all tribes would see appropriate representation in Parliament. At the same time, the tribes agreed to give much more substantial authority to the central government so that it could better keep order.
Major construction of the city of Alvakot was complete by 1997, and people have been steadily moving to the city since then, as it is the largest city by far in a region that was once almost entirely rural. In 1999, a constitutional amendment replaced the traditional division of Alva into chiefdoms with a system of 36 provinces with permanently established capitals. All parties to the peace agreement have honored its terms, and there has been no outright violent unrest in the country since 1992. However, the organized crime that arose in the era of the Great Frustration remains endemic, especially in the north and east, and crime levels remain high. In addition, political corruption remains common at all levels, especially in the relatively newly-established provincial governments.
[[Category:Nations]][[Category:Yasteria]][[Category:Acronis]]
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